Our Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe, By Sarah Hartnett
Take a look at one of our most popular AW’23 desserts, the Sticky Toffee Pudding. Our Executive pastry chef Sarah Hartnett has given us access to one of her secret recipes - in our opinion, the best we have ever tasted! This was by far one of our most popular desserts over the past few months, and is guaranteed to be a firm favourite for your dinner parties this festive season and beyond!
Our Sticky Toffee Pudding Recipe
Our Executive Pastry Chef, Sarah Hartnett has given us access to her best-kept secret this season, her Sticky Toffee Pudding recipe! Here we share with you exactly how this dessert is made and we hope you enjoy this with friends and family.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
Makes 12 portions (depending on how big you cut them!)
125g Dried dates
125g Dried apricots
5g Bicarbonate of soda
225ml Cold water
50g Unsalted butter
150g Soft dark brown sugar
2 Large eggs
150g Self-raising flour
6ml Vanilla essence
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan.
- Chop the dates and apricots into similar-sized pieces and place them into a saucepan.
- Add the cold water and bicarbonate of soda.
- Put on the heat and bring to a slow boil.
- Take off the heat and leave to gradually cool.
- Beat together room-temperature butter and sugar in a bowl, then add the vanilla essence.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs so they are smooth (but not aerated).
- Slowly add the sieved self-raising flour and beaten eggs alternately to the butter and sugar mixture.
- Semi blend the apricot and date mixture to keep some texture- if a smooth sponge is a preference, blend completely. Slowly add this to the batter mixture and ensure it is well combined. (Don’t be alarmed if there seems to be excess liquid in the fruit- this is totally normal- add all the liquid because the bicarb is there to help it rise nicely)
- Line and grease a tin or mould of choice (this is the type of mixture that will stick as it has lots of sugar in it so ensure it is lined well)
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes (adjust this accordingly depending on the size you decided to make your cake). To test the bake, put a knife or skewer through, it might be a little sticky, but it should have a cooked appearance (no liquid mixture left on the tester – if it doesn’t seem ready pop it back in the oven for a couple more minutes). When ready the colour should be a nice dark brown.
Butterscotch Sauce
Makes 12 portions
300g Caster sugar
300ml Double cream
5g Sea salt
Method
- Put a large pan on the stove and turn it on to a medium/high heat. Leave it to warm (empty) for a minute or two.
- Initially put a quarter of the sugar in the pan. Leave this to melt and do not stir (if it is stirred too much it will form lumps and crystallise, this will cause sugar lumps in the sauce)
- The sugar will start to colour around the edges and once it’s all melted, gently stir with a wooden spoon.
- Continue to add the sugar in a quarter at a time, and follow the same procedure until it’s all in the pan – stirring once it’s melted.
- In a separate pan bring the cream up to the boil.
- As the caramel colour develops, it will start to smoke around the edges. As soon as this happens turn down the heat and start to add the warm cream in three batches.
- Do this very carefully- as the addition of cream into a very hot caramel can be dangerous- the caramel will spit the cream upwards. (It will foam a lot while it emulsifies)
- Leave it to boil for a minute, then add the sea salt and take off the heat.
- Enjoy!
Notes
The sticky toffee pudding can be made well in advance and frozen. It can be microwaved to reheat- just cover with cling film and heat in bursts.
The sauce can also be made in advance and frozen- as long as it’s covered and defrosted, it’s easy to rewarm in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.
For help with presentation, see how we present ours below.
Do share your attempts with us on social media and tag us @movingvenue.
GOOD LUCK!
